“This is, uh,” I stammered, looking around at the city. Because that’s really what it was. A city. A fucking city underground. I found myself at a loss for words for how to describe it. Breathtaking? Magnificent? “awesome. Just, uh, awesome.”
Elvira beamed, proud of her masterpiece. As she should be.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvl99AoYDf
“How many people are here?”
“Well, I have agents all around the country finding humans in need to bring here. But I like to keep the number under one hundred. Too many and it gets difficult to hide, ya know?”
I nodded.
“You understand no one else but you can know of this, yes?”
“No one?”
“No one. At all. It could bring all of us down to our knees. Do you understand?” Elvira’s red eyes were intense as she stared me down. I hesitated.
“I— My mother. She lives with me. She's mentally ill and can't be alone for long. She needs me,” I told her.
“Where is she know?”
“With a friend.”
“Can she stay there?”
I bit my lip. “I don’t know… I’m just not comfortable with her being there long.”
Elvira looked conflicted. “I really don’t like bringing people in that aren’t in dire need or people staying longer than they absolutely have to. If she’s stable right now, just leave her, okay? Give me a little while to look into what’s going on with you and I’ll decide if we can bring her. I don’t like the idea of you and her being separated or anything, but it may be necessary.”
I nodded, trying to look as earnest as I could even though I knew very well there was no way I was going to let myself be separated from my mom.
“I’ll show you around,” Elvira said, “take you to where you'll be staying and all."
“Sounds good,” I replied.
The streets were all cobblestone and the buildings red brick. There were a good amount of people on the street, all human. It was a shocking sight to someone like me who was only used to seeing humans in the human part of town where the roads were full of cracks and potholes and the buildings looked like they should be condemned.
“I’m gonna head back up,” Ophelia said to us, pointing up towards Elvira’s place. “Had a long day and I’ve seen the town before.”
Elvira smiled. “Okay, ‘Phelia.”
“Have fun you two,” Ophelia said, grinning at is, before starting back up the ladder.
Elvira took my hand and started walking me down the street as she spoke. “When I originally built this, I was been a bit, uh, ambitious, let’s say. I thought I could house many more than one hundred people. Well, that didn’t work out. So, now I keep a limit on the people I take in and there’s a lot of excess space on the outskirts of the town.”
“Is it closed off?”
“Nah, you can go there, it just hasn’t been occupied in a long time and no electricity goes over there.”
I nodded as I looked around, gawking at the everything around me. This couldn't have been cheap to maintain.
“How much does it cost to keep this place up?” I asked, glancing at Elvira. She laughed mirthlessly.
“Lots. But, I have people that help.”
“What’re those?” I asked after a moment, pointing up to some windows on the ceiling with rope ladders hanging down.
“Well, they have two functions,” Elvira answered. “One, they allow some natural light in which I knew humans need, and, two, they’re exits so people that want to leave don’t have to go through my house.”
“What’s the point of being so high security on the one in your house if you can just go through these?”
“These only go one way. They’re exits. You can’t get in through them. If you try to, an alarm sounds and alerts me to a threat and, ah, action is taken against the threat.”
“So how would we get back in?”
“You don’t,” Elvira said.
“What?” I came to a stop in the middle of the walkway. “What do you mean?”
“If someone leaves, that’s fine. You’re not captives. But there’s no coming back in. Who knows who you’ve told or who you’re leading back here? And if you were willing to shun my generosity and leave, well, that’s your problem.
“Now, I may offer to take you out and shop or just let you feel the air for awhile, but that’s a different situation.”
“I understand,” I said nodding.
Elvira turned us down a street and past a few rows of buildings, which appeared to be townhouses, before stopping in front of one. She pulled out a massive key ring from her purse and flipped through them until she found a key with “E36” printed on it. She unlocked the door and handed the key to me.
“This is where you’ll be staying,” Elvira said. “That’s your key. Don’t lose it.”
The house I was led into was attached to houses on either side of me. It was very narrow but had two stories and from looking in it appeared to have a kitchen, living area, a study, and a bedroom.
“Wow,” I said, walking in.
“It’s not much,” Elvira said from behind me, “But it’s what’s available.”
“No, it’s amazing!” I said, unable to stop the smile from creeping across my face. Maybe to some it would see small or cramped, but it was perfect for me. “Thank you so much!” I threw my arms around Elvira and hugged her as close as I could, holding on tight.
She wrapped her arms around me, hugging me back. After a moment, though, she cleared her throat and I realized I was making her uncomfortable. I let go and stepped back, blushing in embarrassment.
“So, uh, do you need to go back home tomorrow and grab your stuff?” Elvira asked, noting my lack of bags.
“No, the train station lost my luggage,” I replied. I’d managed to forget about that until just now with everything else going on.
“Damn,” Elvira said, frowning. “That sucks.”
I nodded, biting my lip as I tried to figure out what I could do about my missing clothes.
“You can borrow some of mine,” Elvira said, jerking me out of my thoughts, a wide smile on her face, presumably happy the opportunity to share. I just looked at her. Elvira stood at a solid 5’9” inches. Her breasts were at least a C cup and her hips matched them width. I stood nearly a foot shorter with no breasts or hips to speak of.
“Uhh,” I started, “That’s a really nice thought, but I highly doubt that would work.”
Elvira put a hand on her hip, shifting all of her weight over to one leg and popped her hip out as she glared at me. “Are you calling me fat?”
My eyes nearly popped out of my head and I panicked. “No, no! Not at all! Just… you’re tall and curvaceous and I’m small and scrawny.”
Elvira burst into laughter. “Relax, Sammy!” she said, once she’d stopped. “I’m just messing with you. I know what you mean, obviously. I meant you can borrow until I can take you shopping, silly.”
“Oh, uh, that’s quite nice you of, but I’m pretty broke—”
“My treat, Samantha.”
“Really?” I asked. “You don’t have to do that…”
“I want to. You have enough to worry about. I’ve got more money than I know what to do with and I’d love to use some of it helping you. So, you’re going shopping and getting new clothes rather you like it or not. Got it?”
I grinned widely. “Got it.”
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAFHwDlgDP
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Sorry for the brevity and lack of excitement in this part. More to come soon and it will pick up, promise! 623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xyLwYCf0p
